It can be a little confusing at first. Case length has no affect on COAL. The bullet slides into the case mouth, so when seated, there is a fixed distance between the shell holder and the seating stem of the bullet seater die. How are the bullet is seated is determined by the distance from...
Weight Sorting Cases
The critical measurement is the case volume as measured by H20. Lapua put out a statement recently that they do not weight sort their cases because small machining variances in the exterior of the case head cause weight variances that have no affect on internal volume.
The "soft" resistance you feel could be the bullet entering the leade. It could also be a ring of carbon deposit, not uncommon at that point. With the Hornady tool itself, the inner plastic rod could be rubbing/binding against the outer aluminum tube. The inner rod has two very small ridges...
Yes, crimp after seating bullet.
No, it won't significantly shorten brass life. You only need flare/bell the case mouth a small amount to allow the bullet to be seated without shaving it.
It is difficult to say whether .007" is a lot to bump back without knowing what the original FL shoulder length was. Using a comparator, measure the shoulder length of a FL sized casing. Then take a second measurement from the same casing after being fired once. Now you have a reference...
I developed two subsonic .223 loads using pulled SS109 62 grain bullets. 4.5 grains Unique, and 4.6 grains of Lil'Gun. Both chronographed at 1080 fps. With my AAC Cyclone .30 cal suppressor both were about as quiet as my 300 BLK subs. Not surprisingly, the point of impact was quite a bit...
I've got about 200 rounds of Leatherhead bullets through my AAC Cyclone with no leading at all when checked with a borescope. Likewise, the barrel shows no leading and no copper deposits to deal with. Several of the coated cast lead bullets I've seen are using Hi-Tek Supercoat...
You mean Leatherhead bullets? http://leatherheadbullets.com/
I've been the using the 220 grain as a less expensive option to the 180 SMK HPBT for subsonic. Great low cost bullet, I'm getting about the same accuracy out to 100 yards. As for expansion, the only way I can get any expansion is...
If the bullet is contacting the throat or leade as it is chambered, and it is enough to leave a mark on the bullet and/or push it back into the case - it may be unreliable to measure the COL (or CBTO if you are using a comparator). Reason being, if the bullet is bottomed out against the...